Posts that inspiring an elegant life

Is Your Worst Still Your Best?

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Good Morning,

Goodness, it is still cold! We had snow yesterday morning!!! Yes you read that correctly SNOW! Goodness, so over the cold weather. But in today’s post, I wanted to discuss Jennifer’s recent video that she posted about “3 Articles on Dress”. One of the subjects was “goblin mode”. Now, this has been the first I have heard of this phrase. I will post the video below if you missed it. So goblin mode is a new term for laziness and just looking at the photo that described it grieved my soul a little. Like Jennifer said in the video, “people can do want they want” but I just wanted to check my pulse and yours about this subject. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

So lately when I go grocery shopping or out period I have been seeing a lot of people in clothes that I think they sleep in. I mentioned this before that it just grieves me. I know that people can live the way they want but when we go out and we see how people look it can inspire us for better or worse. When I see a woman looking her absolute best it totally inspires me to continue with my clothing style choices. When I see women in “goblin mode” I feel sorry for them sometimes. But I keep in mind that I don’t know what that person is going through and to extend grace. 

 

Photo credit: Memorandum.com 

 

We should live in a way that when we are down in the dumps we still have “elegant choices” around. The bad choices, whether clothing, food, or entertainment are not an option for you because everything you have is your absolute best. “Live your life so that your worst is your best”! That phrase popped into my mind while watching Jennifer’s video. Live your life so that your worst is your best! 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

I purposely choose elegant items in my life. There is no room or limited room for me to choose things that are not my best. I would encourage you to replace items, clothes, and entertainment that will enrich you to always use it. We are only on this earth for a short time. Make it count! 

 

 

Here is Jennifer’s video if you missed it. I hope that you all are inspired to use your best always and to begin to replace items that are worn with items that are the best for you. You must be fearless in this area and confident because not everyone will like it nor support it. 

As I have said before, “there is so much darkness in this world. Why not be elegant”. Have a wonderful Wednesday! 

 

 

 

 

 

Lilies and Easter Sunday…

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Good Morning All,

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter Day with your families. I am always humbled by what the Lord did. I always try to put myself in that situation and I always come up with, “there is no way”. I am being honest. That took so much to die for all. It really did…

We celebrated at home. It was just me, our daughter, and my husband. I kept things simple with a slow cooker chicken, homemade mashed potatoes, green beans, and southern-style biscuits. It was a nice quiet Easter celebration at home. The weather has been cold but it is bright and sunny. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

Since there was only the three of us I filled the rest of the table with flowers. I mean why not! My local grocery store had these huge stalks of baby’s breath. They were gorgeous as well as the pink lilies that they had. I placed the lilies in one of my ginger jars. It looked wonderful! 

 

 

I also used my new (to me) vintage lily of the valley plates that I purchased from Pender and Peony. She also has an Instagram page where she auctions her vintage items. I ordered these last week and have been enjoying them ever since. This was also the perfect time to pull out my lily of the valley goblets from Monique Lhuillier. Everything looked wonderful on the table and were the perfect pieces for our Easter dinner. 

Let me know in the comments section below what you did or cooked for Easter dinner. I would love to hear about your family celebrations. 

Have a great Monday! 

 

 

 

My Office…

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Good Cold Friday Morning!

Goodness, I still can’t believe how cold it is here! So frustrating. We are suppose to finally climb into the 70s next week. Hallelujah! I have been m.i.a. from the blog and social media a bit. I had to upgrade my phone and it has literally taken 2 days to get everything transferred from my old phone to my new phone. I still have to move some of my videos! 

I like my new cell. It is a huge upgrade to my old one. I have a better camera for photos and videos! So we will see….

In today’s post, I wanted to share a few photos from my downtown office. I know I have not shared much from this space. I have a different position now and wanted to give it some time before I did. I still won’t be showing the entire office but I thought a few photos would be okay. 

 

photo credit: Mrs. Shockley 

 

This is the doorway to my office. When you open the door this is the first thing you see. It is a little bigger than my last office but the downside to this space is that I do not have a window view. I do miss my view in my old office but this location is soooo much better. 

I have my faux flower arrangements, my blue and white ginger jars on my wall, my beautiful “lady in blue” picture, and beautiful antique items on my desk. I love my chinoiserie tissue holder, ginger jar vases, and family photos. 

 

 

Here is another view from the door. These items were in my previous office. The tall brown piece of furniture in the distance is a coat closet.

 

 

 

 

Here is another view of the sitting area. I do love this area. All of the colors that I have just seem to blend together so nicely. I am still loving the painting that I found at the antique store. I stare at it every time I can get a moment.

I do hope that you enjoyed this tiny tour of my office. I hope that it provided some inspiration for your very own office space whether downtown or at home. Have a wonderful Friday!

 

 

 

The Grandmilliennial Style of Ms. Rhimes

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Good Morning,

I am loving this quiet week at the office. Yesterday I did leave early so that I could run to the antique store before they closed to buy some antique crystal salt and pepper shakers. When I got there she had closed about 30 minutes early. Sighing…. I am trying to decide if I want to wait until this weekend or try again today. We will see….

In today’s post, I wanted to share a recent photo that I saw in Architectural Digest magazine. 

 

photo credit: Michael Mundy 

 

Have any of you seen this gorgeous photo of writer Shonda Rhimes in her NYC apartment? O.MG.! When I saw this photo I thought oh yes! This sings to my soul! I had to read the details about this apartment. 

 

photo credit: Michael Mundy

 

So the wallpaper is from De Gournay (not a shock), the mirror is a Regency gilt mirror and it hangs above her custom Jasper sofa in Clarence House damask. Her pillows are from Fortuny, Claremont, and Chelsea. The room is a complete dream. The best part is there is a video on Youtube of her giving AD a tour! Watch it below.

 

 

I hope this left you feeling inspired or gave you some inspiration for your home. I can’t wait to show you guys my recent antique purchase! It’s grandmillennial of course! Have a great Wednesday!

 

 

 

Ideas for Using Your Silver

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Yay, it’s Friday! I am looking forward to the weekend of course. I do not have a lot of things planned. I will be taking some time off next week. I just plan on staying home, cleaning and re-organizing our daughter’s room, doing a bit of wall washing, and doing more small cleaning tasks. I may also plan on visiting an antique store. There is also a new Ross store nearby that I wanted to take a peek at. I will let you guys know what I plan on doing.

Earlier this week I was reading the Glam Pad, another blog that I follow, and Holly Holden was a guest on her blog and was discussing ways that she reuses her silver.

 

photo via Pinterest

 

I love silver. Especially silver buckets. I have been trying to find some silver mint cups but I have not found any that I like. Holly gave 14 ways to repurpose your silver and I wanted to list some of my favorites. 

The first tip that she gave of course is a favorite of mine. Fresh flowers in a silver bucket…. so elegant. My second favorite is using a silver mint-julep cup to hold makeup brushes. 

 

photo credit: Pinterest 

 

My third favorite was using a silver coaster to place chocolates on a guest bedroom’s bedside table. Now, how wonderful is that? I hope you all enjoy the list and I wanted to let everyone know that the Rose Pearl Shawl is now on sale for only $15! Order it while you can and there is only one Autumn Mauve Cardigan left. I am wearing them both in the photo below. They are both beautiful pinks. Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

My Garden Inspiraton

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Good Morning Everyone,

Boy did we have some spectacular weather here in Indy this weekend! It was sooo nice. I opened up all of the windows to let in the nice breeze. I love having fresh air circulate in our home. It seems to get that stale winter air out. All of the sunshine we had this weekend got me thinking about what I want to do with my garden this year. I have shared my peonies before and I love them. I can’t wait to see this year’s colors and varieties. Each year we get more peonies and more hydrangeas. 

In my recent Youtube video, I talked about how I wanted some climbers in my garden. I am still wanting that. So I have started my research on what kind of roses would be best to grow here in my state. I can’t wait until after Mother’s Day, that’s when I start to work in my yard. Honestly, May is the best time. We still get snow in Indiana up until April! It’s terrible. 

I am also on the hunt for a garden trellis. I found a few on Wayfair that I am interested in. But I really want a white one. 

 

photo via: Pinterest

 

This is the end goal. I am hoping to grow some pink roses of course. I would love to have a scented light pink version. We will see what the garden center says. I am so anxious about it. It always seems to be hard to grow things here but I am determined to have some climbing roses on the side of my house. 

 

photo via: Pinterest

 

Isn’t this spectacular? I would love to come home from a long day in the office, grab a chilled glass of wine, sit on my porch and literally smell the roses. Let me know in the comments below if you have a trellis. I would love to know what you growing. Also, has anyone everyone grown dahlias? Let me know! Have a great Monday!

 

 

 

 

A Blue and White Wedding

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Good Morning Everyone,

I am really excited! My new arrival for the boutique has arrived and I do love it! It’s a regular size dress and I can’t wait to get it on the website! I hope you guys love it as well. Speaking of beautiful things I found this gorgeous and I mean gorgeous wedding on Pinterest. 

I clicked on the photo and it lead me to a timeless wedding in Washington, D.C. 

 

photo credit: Kate Headley

 

Don’t you just love the toile table skirt? So beautiful! I love the pink draperies, hydrangeas, mother of pearl, roses, and tulips. 

 

photo credit: Kate Headley 

 

Oh my goodness! Can I have this banquette? I would love this! It makes me want to search Facebook Marketplace. I think the website said that it was custom-made. 

 

photo credit: Kate Headley

 

Look at this beautiful card table. It is decorated with blue and white canton and chinoiserie vases. They also filled it with the iconic cherry blossoms from Washington D.C. This wedding has such beautiful details. If you wish to read about it or see the rest of the photos you may do so here.  Have a wonderful Wednesday!